This isn’t our typical Kickstarter post. That’s why we are departing from our usual Kickstarter format. No, this is a special Kickstarter post and in it we want to tell you a story and then offer a challenge.

It’s a great story, and it’s a worthwhile challenge.

The Story: A young girl sees her grandfather dealing with Parkinson’s. Among the challenges he faces are spills resulting from his constant shaking. She doesn’t want to see her grandfather embarrassed by spills. She doesn’t want her grandmother to constantly be dealing with the spills either. So “after a bit of experimentation, she made him a plastic cup that didn’t tip and was comfortable.”

Some time later the girl sees her father spill coffee on his laptop. He’s not very happy! (Having destroyed my 13″ MacBook Pro year and a half ago in a similar fashion, I know that upset only too well.)

Now she’s got two good reasons to come up with a better mousetrap or, in this case, a better coffee cup. She tells her dad about her idea for the No-Spill Kangaroo Cup. She starts making some prototypes. That’s where we’ll let the project page pick things up…

A couple years ago my daughter came up with an invention to help her grandfather (my dad) who has Parkinson’s disease, and was frequently spilling his drinks. After a bit of experimentation, she made him a plastic cup that didn’t tip and was comfortable. About a year later, she noticed that I had wrecked a keyboard or two with spilled coffee, and she made me a ceramic version at a local pottery studio. Using it, I realized what a great cup it was and I asked her if she wanted to try to bring it to production. What followed was the adventure of a lifetime for our family that had us up to our elbows in clay, traveling to the world’s capital of fine porcelain, JingDeZhen, China to prepare for a production run, and culminating in this Kickstarter project.

What started out a simple weekend project has become almost an obsession to build the world’s best cup. I’ve had the time of my life working with my daughter to bring this product to production, and to show her that an idea can become reality.

The world we live in today is vastly different than the one I grew up in. The lemonade stand that used to reach only our neighbors has been replaced by our website, reaching most of the world’s people. Instead of being limited to our local merchants, our computer connects us to merchants around the world selling every kind of product and service the mind can imagine, with accessibility that used to be reserved only for simple consumer goods.

This campaign is not just about bringing a product to production, it is about sending a message to every parent and every kid with an invention (which is just about every kid) that in history’s blink of an eye, we suddenly find ourselves living in a world where that dream can be made real.

So, to every kid (of any age) with an idea. This project is dedicated to you!

So what does the cup have to offer?

1. It resists spilling when knocked from rest– The Kangaroo cups three legs provide a wider, vastly more stable base

2. It needs no coaster- The cup body is raised off the table, no more chasing guests around with coasters, and no more ring marks on your tables

3. It stacks neatly- There’s no reason a coffee cup should take up so much space in the cupboard, the Kangaroo cups stack neatly.

4. It resists splashing when being carried & used- The rim of the cup is gently curved inward so no drink splashes out as you use or transport the cup. It remains comfortable to drink from, and you get fewer coffee stains on shirts, sofas and carpets.

5. It’s stable on a variety of surfaces, from carpeted surfaces to uneven ground outdoors.

So there you have it. An awesome young girl, a great idea to help her grandfather, and a project that is so simple but makes total sense.

So that’s the Kickstarter project. Here’s the challenge.

The Challenge: The very first backer of this project was none other than Judie. She was already thinking about backing the project, but then she realized that the project was created by the daughter of someone with whom she has been doing business for years. She backed at $50 so that she would get a cup that was made in the US and was handmade by the “creative”.

I saw that Judie backed it and, having a father who is a stroke survivor and who has never regained the use of one arm, I loved it!! So I backed.

Now we want to help the project get backed within the week. I know we can do this.

It’s a great project and a great example of crowdfunding.

So our challenge to you is… join us!! Back the project. You can get a Kangaroo cup for as little as $13!

Back it and then send the link to three friends and encourage them to back it too. With your help we can do this! Click the link below, and let’s get started!

Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”)Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him.

4 reactions

Trackbacks

Comments

I just saw this and read it to Lily who’s sitting right here with me. I was so moved, it wasn’t easy to get through the whole post without getting choked up. Thank you so much! This is my (and our) first crowdfunding project and I feel we’ve screwed up a bunch of things, but people are really reacting to the project, so its extremely touching. Thanks again!